One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's the best time to plant tithonia is to look at the USDA zone info for Tuscola.

Planting Calendar for Tithonia

Frost tolerance for tithonia:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since tithonia do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant tithonia in Tuscola is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant tithonia and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your tithonia may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your tithonia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Tuscola the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Tuscola is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Tuscola you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your tithonia in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Tuscola

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Tuscola

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Tuscola.